Popular chain restaurant Pizza Express has today announced that around 67 stores could close, with 1,100 staff members affected.

The news comes as part of a restructing process at the company, as it seeks to balance the books in the wake of a devastating trading period due to the national coronavirus lockdown.

The chain has venues in Hitchin’s Market Place, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, St Albans and Harpenden, that could all face the axe, as up to 15 per cent of restaurants nationwide could go.

The confirmed list of restaurants that will shut is expected to be announced next week.

Citing the “unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19,” the company will now undergo a period of restructuring that it hopes will ensure future growth.

The dining chain said it plans to launch a Company’s Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) restructuring deal in the near future, in a move which could lead to the closure of 15 per cent of its 449 UK restaurants.

However, it stressed that the final outcome of the restructuring has “yet to be decided”.